SALT LAKE CITY — Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said she loves her uncle Mitt Romney, but still sides with President Donald Trump above anyone else.
What happened: On Tuesday night, Romney blasted Trump’s character and style in an op-ed he wrote for The Washington Post. He said he was never on board with Trump as president, and that Trump hasn’t changed his mind.
- He wrote that Trump’s “conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions (in December), is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office."
- Then, on Wednesday, Trump shrugged off Romney’s comments. And McDaniel, who dropped her maiden name Romney when she started working for Trump, blasted her uncle, tweeting, "for an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive."
New comments: In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” McDaniel said fighting between Republican Party members was silly and a waste of time. She said Republicans should focus on opposing Democrats.
- She said her tweet was a part of her job.
- “I love my uncle,” she said on “Fox & Friends” program. “My tweet yesterday had nothing to do with family,” she said. “I would have done this to any freshman incoming senator and I would have said, 'Hey, let's focus on the real issues here which are the Democrats that are proposing dangerous policies for our country.'”
- She said Romney gave her a heads up about the op-ed and reached out to her after the tweet, Politico reports.
- “The reality is I acted as party chair, he’s going to act as senator," McDaniel said. "I’m going to say to anybody in our party, our voters want you to support our president.”
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Romney response: Romney responded to the tweet during a CNN broadcast, too.
- "I respect her right to express that viewpoint," he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday afternoon.
- He added, "She's a very loyal Republican, loyal to the president and she's doing what she thinks is best for him and for the party."